State Advocacy at Compassion & Choices

Compassion & Choices works with state House and Senate lawmakers to improve end-of-life care by supporting legislation that allows people to be the primary deciders in their end-of-life care.

Find the Latest Updates in Your State

Use the dropdown button below to find updates, resources, and opportunities to get involved in your state.

Medical Aid in Dying State Advocacy

Compassion & Choices is leading efforts to authorize, implement and defend medical aid in dying in each state so all terminally ill people who are eligible will have access to the full range of end-of-life care options. 

Medical aid in dying is authorized in 11 jurisdictions: California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Hawai‘i, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.

2023 Legislative Highlights

Fourteen states have introduced legislation to authorize medical aid in dying: Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia. While legislation varies by state, all of the bills are similar to the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.  A brief overview of the core features and safeguards in the laws can be found here

Six states are considering legislation to improve or clarify existing medical aid-in-dying laws: Hawai‘i, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. We are primarily seeing the following types of improvements:

• Allowing advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants to practice medical aid in dying (Hawai‘i & Washington).
• Reducing the waiting period or allowing it to be waived (Hawai‘i, New Jersey and Vermont).
• Eliminating the residency requirement (Oregon and Vermont).
• Improving transparency (Washington).

Legislative Action Alerts

Medical Aid In Dying In Brief - week ending May 26, 2023.

Nevada

• On May 24, the Nevada Assembly passed SB 239, the End of Life Options Act, in a 23-19 floor vote. The bill now heads to the governor's desk to hopefully be signed into law, which would make Nevada the 12th jurisdiction to authorize medical aid in dying.

New York

• Advocate Rabbi Rachel Timoner, featured in the film Last Flight Home about her father's experience using California’s End of Life Option Act, delivered the invocation to the New York State Senate on May 22. Rabbi Timoner spoke to at least eight target lawmakers while in Albany in support of the state's pending aid-in-dying bill.